Springbok flyhalf Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu was impressive against Australia, but will face the biggest test of his career against the All Blacks on Saturday. | EPA
Many rugby pundits and Springbok supporters would have opted to start Handré Pollard ahead of Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu at flyhalf against the All Blacks in Johannesburg on Saturday (kick-off 5pm).
Perhaps even fans of the young Stormers star may have felt that it was too much of a risk to throw Feinberg-Mngomezulu into the Ellis Park cauldron against a fired-up New Zealand looking to make a statement under new coach Scott “Razor” Robertson. But this 22-year-old pivot – much like Pollard himself at a similar stage of his career – is made of sterner stuff.
He handled the pressure of wearing the No 10 jersey with aplomb in the two wins over the Wallabies in Australia – despite making a few mistakes in the rain in Perth – and has long shown that he is destined for great things at the highest level.
Bok coach Rassie Erasmus said during Tuesrday’s team announcement media conference that Feinberg-Mngomezulu was equipped to front up to the Kiwis, while he recalled Jasper Wiese at No.8 after a six-game suspension and included Aphelele Fassi at fullback ahead of Willie le Roux.
“I think the only guy I remember that wasn’t shielded was maybe Gaffie du Toit,” Erasmus said. “I played a Test match with him and he was thrown in there in Dunedin, against an All Black team that I didn’t want to look in the eyes even, as we walked down the tunnel – he was thrown in at 10, him and David von Hoesslin. He was basically carried off and never played for the Springboks again ...
“Sacha was marked in the under-15, under-16 systems, and he played for SA Schools, was captain of the Junior Boks, played SA ‘A’ games, trained against the Springboks on last year’s end-of-year tour.
“Now he is playing in his seventh cap, and having built up to this game, and to now take it away from him at this highest level, it will be stupid. Let him make some mistakes and learn and get better.”
Fassi’s selection is another exciting one as the world champions continue their quest to add a few different elements to their attack. The Sharks No.15 has been excellent on his return to Test rugby this year, and he has been encouraged to showcase the skills that earned him the “Weekend Special” nickname.
“We are all waiting for Aphelele to do it now. That was the word all of last week: ‘Do it now, it’s now you (starting at fullback). You’ve got to show the people what you can do, and why you are here. They haven’t seen the things that you do’,” Erasmus said.
“But unfortunately with everything, there’s first the hard grafting involved in a game before you get to do the beautiful thing.
“So him getting that high-ball technique right and not lifting that leg; combining with the wing, small defensive things; and now it’s his time to shine.”
Erasmus was still hopeful that Eben Etzebeth would come through yesterday afternoon’s practice unscathed after a knee niggle that initially ruled him out, following injuries to locks RG Snyman (foot) and Salmaan Moerat (concussion).
He would then be back at No 4 and Pieter-Steph du Toit would revert to blindside flank, with Ben-Jason Dixon replacing one of the loose forwards on the bench.
Springbok starting XV: 15-Aphelele Fassi 14-Cheslin Kolbe 13-Jesse Kriel 12-Damian de Allende 11-Kurt-Lee Arendse 10-Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu 9-Cobus Reinach 8-Jasper Wiese 7-Ben-Jason Dixon 6-Siya Kolisi (captain) 5-Ruan Nortjé 4-Pieter-Steph du Toit 3-Frans Malherbe 2-Bongi Mbonambi 1-Ox Nche; Replacements: 16-Malcolm Marx 17-Gerhard Steenekamp 18-Vincent Koch 19-Marco van Staden 20-Elrigh Louw 21-Kwagga Smith 22-Grant Williams 23-Handré Pollard.